1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device for the capturing of data for audience research and, more particularly, to a monitoring device that is interoperable with a personal computer to enable collection and analysis of data relating to use of such personal computer to access media content.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Monitoring devices in audience research serve to monitor and register the audio and/or video impressions of media content and/or advertising delivered to panelists and their video consumption. A main application is to collect and analyze this data to assess the appeal of broadcast (e.g., via cable or over-the-air) programming such as TV programs.
For an as reliable as possible assessment of media consumption by the panelists, the monitoring devices used must perform their task in a manner which is both imperceptible to the panelist and automatic (i.e., without the need for the panelist to provide operating input).
The following summaries of prior art are not to be construed as an admission that anything has been known before the filing date of the present patent application.
WO-A-02/098029 discloses an audience research system using a peculiar remote control of the household appliances. The remote control allows interaction with the users and collects the audience data. For examining media consumption using a personal computer (PC), it is proposed to run a computer program on the PC. This program determines the habits of the computer user and stores the collected data on an internal storage medium of the PC or a portable storage medium (floppy disk, CD-ROM). The captured data comprise streaming media, Internet broadcasts, MP3 files playing etc., and data specifying the location, e.g. the URL, and data and time.
According to FR-A-2 908 571, media consumption in a household is ascertained by installing a sensor in the device(s) connecting the audio/video (AV) appliances with the network, e.g. an ADSL router. The sensor allows tracking of the data packet traffic and the origin of the data. For assigning data packets to a person, an additional identifying means is given to each person.
According to EP-A-0 687 083, the acoustic output of a household AV appliance is picked up by a microphone of the monitor. The monitor has a reference receiver and matches the microphone signal with the audio output of the reference amplifier which scans the available broadcast channels. In a household connected to a cable network, a local emitter is installed which sequentially broadcasts data of the programs available on the cable network. The monitor receives these signals by its reference tuner. Transmission from the local sender to the monitor is by radio waves, ultrasound, or light.
Portable devices called Mediawatch in the shape of a wrist watch have been developed by the applicant, cf. EP-A-0 598 682 and EP-A-0 887 958 which are incorporated by reference in the description.
A Mediawatch takes samples of ambient environmental sound. The samples are subjected to a strong, lossy compression. Evaluation comprises correlation with samples of reference audio signals, e.g. sound samples taken in a broadcast station or reference receivers.
One problem with this technique is that the Mediawatch takes a mixture of different sounds by its microphone. Therefore, the correlation process may be demanding in order to safely ascertain that a specific broadcast is included in the sound samples.
A new development in media consumption is the use of a personal computer to view TV. Known monitor devices permanently coupled to AV appliances are, however, not well suited for or even incompatible with computers.
Furthermore, media may be viewed on any computer having a sufficiently fast connection to the Internet because broadcast stations, TV programs and other media may be received by streaming services. The known monitors, however, have to be connected to AV appliances by trained technicians. Therefore, they can not be used for capturing audience research data in the case of media content being delivered to a panelist using more than one computer, e.g. at home, in the office, in an Internet café, at friends or relatives.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to propose a monitor device that allows capturing of audience research data associated with media content delivered to an individual via more than one computer.